First of all, Happy New Year to all our bloggers and participants here at Mormon Matters. I hope that 2009 brings peace and greater insight to your life. 
We are in the midst of some trying times, but as the Children of our Heavenly Father, we have no reason to fear, if we are prepared.
This year, I am instituting only one New Year’s Resolution. It is the same resolution I made at the end of last year. That resolution has changed my life in a very profound way, so I am changing the specifics but keeping the overall focus. It deals directly with my personal understanding of the true meaning of “perfection” as commanded in Matthew 5:48. I wish I had undertaken this effort decades ago, but I am grateful I have done so now. Continue reading…
“So powerful is the need for congruence that when people are forced to look at disconfirming evidence, they will find a way to criticize, distort, or dismiss it so that they can maintain or even strengthen their existing belief.” Continue reading…
We should gather all the good and true principles in the world and treasure them up, or we shall not come out true Mormons. Joseph Smith
What is good leadership? How did Joseph Smith envision church leadership? How does that differ from the church today and how is it the same? Today’s lesson is from the Joseph Smith manual #24, Leading in the Lord’s Way. Continue reading…
There seems to be a common thread running through the fringe theorists that I’ve talked to, and that is the idea of “secret societies.” Illuminati, the Freemasons, Skull and Bones. It’s the stuff of great novels, like The Da Vinci Code, and I’ve been surprised lately by those who even put secret societies behind recent events such as the election of Obama and the crash of the Stock Market. I’ve found that generally the idea is scoffed at by most “rational” thinkers.
For almost two centuries the Word of Wisdom is solid proven evidence to many members that the Church is true.
Continue reading…
“Atonement” means “to make as one; to unify; to bring together what once was separated.” When we speak of the Atonement, we generally focus on the Garden of Gethsemane and the Cross of Golgotha (where He finished the steps to allow us to become “at one” with Him and Our Father), but we often fail to realize that an important part of the Atonement occurred at His birth – when He condescended to become “at one” with us. Think about that for a moment and contemplate what an amazing thing that is. Continue reading…
I’ve been thinking lately about the differences between the LDS Church we participate in today compared to what attracted and retained early members in the days of Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith was a religious mystic, recognized as a founding “prophet” of our modern church. The core of the story of Joseph and the restoration is a number of intense, other-worldly, divine encounters. He seemed to be ever concerned with bringing the Church into the presence of God. This took a worldly form in the cause of gathering to Zion, a utopian society perhaps like the City of Enoch. It also took the form of promoting the expression of visions, dreams, speaking in tongues, and prophecies. Continue reading…
Peter Brimelow, a British journalist, is credited with coining the term “War on Christmas” in 1999 to describe the politically correct movement in English-speaking countries to neutralize public references to Christmas out of deference to non-Christians. This term has been popularized, especially by right-winger Bill O’Reilly and folks over 65 who like to forward outraged spam emails about how the world is going to hell in a handbasket. So, who’s winning the War on Christmas? Continue reading…
In my last post I, in great detail, demonstrated why I believe the Trinity doctrine itself is not a contradiction but that creedal Christians have been trained to use it in a contradictory way.
I did it using predict logic, tons of examples, and examples from real life conversations with creedal Christians. So that means no one will read it.
It would seem that being precise with your language makes it difficult to read and comprehend. (A fact all programmers know.) Sometimes it’s easier to just use an example, which is less precise but more understandable. So here is an example that covers everything I said in my last post via an analogy. Continue reading…
How do we create and maintain unity at church while valuing diversity and avoiding conformity? Do we have to embrace the diversity of those who value conformity? Do we have to unify with those whose diversity gives us the heebie jeebies? Continue reading…
Several times in discussions on Mormon Matters I’ve made the comment that the Trinity doctrine is a contraction. Actually, technically I was not correct when I said that. I wish to explain my self further, partially backtracking on, or at least nuancing, those comments.
The Trinity doctrine itself doesn’t have to be a contradiction – indeed, I grow more convinced all the time that the Trinity doctrine, at it’s root, is what I believe. What I should have said is that creedal Christians honestly seem to me to be making a choice to interpret or use the Trinity doctrine in a contradictory way. Continue reading…
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